About server.js

I have taught Node.js + express.js to quite some people and there’s always a point where I just have to say: “this part is way too complex to explain at this point, so just copy/paste this”. This breaking point is connecting express.js to all those middlewares.

When I was traveling with Hacker Paradise through Asia and we got to the same point I decided to do something about it. First I created a file upload middleware and then started the ground work for what now is server.

The final trigger was getting the package server in npm. After that and based on the previous experiments, I decided to set out for real and make something worthwhile. So I dug into express.js, middleware, routers, etc and now I'm proud that server is something I use to make websites faster and easier.

Join me in Github to get the best out of server and help Node.js achieve its full potential. Next up are websockets routes:

const server = require('server');
const { get, socket } = server.router;
server(
  get('/', ctx => ctx.res.render('home')),
  socket('connect', ctx => ctx.io.emit('connected', ctx.socket.id)),
  socket('message', ctx => ctx.io.emit('message', ctx.data))
);

Goals

These are the main things that I wasn’t happy with the state-of-the-art, so I decided to launch server to build upon the great work of express:

1. Make things work by default (by domain):

• Parsers: json, urlencoded, file uploads, etc.
• Persistence: session, cookies, csrf, etc

2. Make things simpler to use:

• Many low-level things work out of the box
• Sensible, secure defaults => no need to change anything
• Easily customizable options

3. Make some important services available where possible, or some hooks to make it easier:

• Passport
• Database (MongoDB, etc)
• Websockets

4. Better error handling (if possible). No more ALLCAPS error messages with no information at all.

This will in turn make it much easier to get started, for both people who are new to Node or for experienced people who don’t want to set-up everything again and again. The main frustration that I’ve seen from people coming from:

• Different web backgrounds (Ruby on Rails, PHP), where now they have to hunt down and compare dozens of libraries to do simple tasks.
• Different programming backgrounds (Arduino, C++) where I have to explain not only how to get a server ready with these new tools, but also how the current state of the art and the fun of it is to build your own stack.
• Starting from scratch. I pity those people starting with no programming experience coming to Node.js. This shouldn’t be so difficult, should it?

So that’s it, those are the reasons for me to start server.js. Star the package in Github if you like it and check all the info in the official website.